Britain's Managers Must Lift Their Game - Concludes New Research from Economic & Social Research Council

Britain's Managers Must Lift Their Game - Concludes New Research from Economic & Social Research Council

Article excerpt

Organisations that involve, empower and invest in the development of their employees out-perform those that do not, but the majority of employers fail to pursue such positive policies. That is one of the major conclusions of new research on the impact of contemporary management practices on employee performance in UK business.

The survey reveals - from a management perspective - relatively discontented and stressful workplaces where managers still fail to give a high enough priority to improving motivation and job satisfaction among employees. As in the past, most firms seem to be concerned merely to muddle through and not adopt high road, high quality management techniques that would improve productivity and competitiveness.

The Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) Future of Work Programme's nationally representative survey of managers questioned more than 2,000 establishments across every sector and size of company in Britain, and was carried out between July and September 2002.

The research Indicates:

* A reluctance by British management to adopt family-friendly employment policies or make arrangements for their employees to have a positive voice in the business, as prescribed in forthcoming European legislation. …